How time flies and days merge into each other ….

Actually, Harry hasn’t done any travelling since the last entry a week ago; he’s stayed put and has served us very well as a base for exploration and relaxation.

Days have been sunny, –  warm, not hot, but nights have been cold, frosty, even. This is a very suitable park and we’ve decided to stay a second week.

     Splendid autumn colours! 2 Happy points! (Anyone outside my immediate family who knows what that refers to – and enters it as a comment – can award themselves … well, 2 happy points!) The site overlooks the ‘Futuroscope’ theme park, which we believe is very highly rated, but at 30e (£27)each, even for seniors, we just can’t justify a visit.

Our first two days were spent relaxing, sorting, organising; crates have been emptied and cleaned which have travelled unsorted and spidery in the old ‘Box’ for years! We enjoyed our first al fresco meal – an English Brunch, prepared on the new barbecue. (With bacon smuggled over the Channel in Harry’s fridge.) We’ve had one partly wet day – that was the day we went into Poitiers and ‘did’ the cathedral. Then we did a big shop at a huge Centre Commercial. That’s where we bought the French mobile phone. (+33 6 30 60 97 32 – I did that from memory!) Finally we got round to contacting one of the estate agents in the area whom we’d met at the ‘Place In The Sun’ exhibition. He works from an office about 60 miles south of here in a little town called Mansle (pr. ‘Marn’) on the banks of the Charente:

It seems a long way to go, but a difficulty is that most caravan / camping sites are closed now, so we are limited as to where we can stay, unless we use ‘Aires’ or wild camp. Anyway, we’ve viewed 5 properties in two days, none of which has had that ‘WOW!’ factor which has made us say ‘we must raise the cash to get this NOW!’, but what has been amazing is just how much we could buy for well less than the price of Garth View….

How’d you like that at the bottom of your garden? (But no risk of flooding)

Or that for a view?

We seen places with huge attics, huge barns, half acre gardens, but that’s not what we’re looking for! One problem was that Hugh (the agent) only wanted to show us places where the owners were away – where people were in residence they only want viewers who have money in the bank, ready to buy. So it’s a bit ‘chicky-eggy’ really.

No problem with fuel, by the way; Harry’s sitting here with a full tank going nowhere, the viewings were done in Hugh’s car and we filled sally up in Mansle before coming ‘home’ this evening.

….and THE KITTEN(S). When we arrived there were two little grey kittens to be seen around the cabin opposite. A girl on a bike who appears to live here seemed to take exception to them and went to fetch a man who trapped one of them and took it away …. A Dutch Lady from a caravan two pitches away told Carol there used to be four, but they’ve been catching them one by one (they’re not always welcome visitors on campsites – sometimes they steal people’s breakfast …..). Mrs Dutchman was trying to catch this last one to adopt it together with one she has already from Portugal, but it’s very people-shy,though very hungry and lonely, too. She’s gone now, but little Mowly-Wowly seems to have adopted us, or we’re the only people who give him anything. But he still wont come within stroking or petting distance – just knows when we’re around and comes and howls between the van and the tent! NO! We’re NOT going to take him with us!!!   

,